The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a new report showing the major savings coming to people with Medicare thanks to the $35 cap on a month’s supply of insulin.
The insulin provisions of this law went into effect January 1, 2023, for Medicare Part D. Starting July 1, 2023, under Medicare Part B, beneficiary cost sharing will be limited to $35 for a month’s supply of insulin. Researchers estimate that 1.5 million people with Medicare would have benefited from the new Inflation Reduction Act insulin cost-sharing limits if they had been in effect in 2020, with total savings to beneficiaries of about $734 million in Part D and $27 million in Part B – an average savings of approximately $500 for those Medicare beneficiaries.
The new report also provides information on savings by state and by demographic characteristics, including gender, race and ethnicity, and age. The states with the most people with Medicare projected to benefit from the new Inflation Reduction Act insulin cost savings are Texas (114,000 beneficiaries), California (108,000), and Florida (90,000). North Dakota ($805), Iowa ($725), and South Dakota ($725) have the highest average annual out-of-pocket savings.
